


Paying Your Dues

by YappiChick



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, F/M, Friendship, Pre-Series, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-14
Updated: 2015-02-13
Packaged: 2018-03-12 07:04:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3347993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YappiChick/pseuds/YappiChick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Cooper ends up selling his soul to the devil, it's Felicity who has to pay the price.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Paying Your Dues

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write a story where Felicity gets pulled into working for ARGUS and when I saw the preview for next week's episode with Oliver rolling into Starling City with Maseo, I knew I had to run with it. The story is plotted out mostly in my head, so hopefully this won't end up in the WIP graveyard.
> 
> Tags will be added as the story progresses. Whee!

Felicity had spent the summer after she had graduated high school zig-zagging across the country, travelling every highway, interstate, and backroad she could cram into her eight-week journey. She had visited the Grand Canyon, walked through downtown Gotham (visiting the WayneTech building was the highlight of her road trip), ran up the stairs like Rocky did in Philadelphia, and experienced the United States in a way few were able to.

Starling City, however, had not been one of the places she had visited. The city reminded her too much of Hollywood and she had visited the Walk of Fame; the Queens, the Merlyns, and the rest of the city’s elite were treated like gods, with the paparazzi snapping pictures of the beautiful while the rest of the city fell to ruins.

It felt a little too much like Vegas for Felicity’s liking.

But, now she found herself in Starling and she had to admit there was a beauty about it. The first thing that caught her eye was the the skyline. Tall buildings boasting of the city’s wealth were impossible to ignore. To think, less than six months ago, she and Cooper would have been ready to hack into any of these big businesses in the name of hactivism.

Cooper.  
  
She suppressed a sigh as she thought about Cooper and tried --and failed-- not to think of her latest visit with him. He had seemed downright...giddy which was something Felicity would have thought was impossible considering he was _in prison_. But, he had smiled widely and assured her that things were starting to look up for him.

When she had awkwardly confessed that she was starting to look for work in some of the places that they swore they would never step foot in, he had surprised her by encouraging her to apply for the IT job at Queen Consolidated in Starling City. She must have looked confused because he offered her another smile.

People, he had said with a half-grin, can change.

Their visit ended with that rather cryptic sentence before the guard came to collect Cooper. He didn’t even tell her “I love you” when he walked away.

She had spent the rest of the weekend telling herself that everything was fine between the two of him and Cooper had just been distracted. She had almost convinced herself that she had been overreacting before she boarded the flight to Starling City. She would go visit Cooper when she got back into town and he would assure her that he loved her.

That being decided, she turned back and looked through the window. In the distance, she saw the Queen Consolidated building. She fidgeted in her seat, forcing herself not to pull out her phone and look at the time. Again.

“First time in Starling?” the cabbie asked. He didn’t seem that interested in her answer, but that was ok with her. She didn’t want someone’s superficial enthusiasm.

She turned to face him.“Yeah, I guess you can tell from the way my mouth dropped open when I saw downtown, huh? I mean you have to wonder if some of these businessmen aren’t trying to overcompensate for other areas.” A blush flooded her face.

Sometimes she missed being goth; most people ignored or avoided her with her dark hair and makeup. It certainly helped awkward situations since she really had no filter on what she thought or said out loud.

He let out a small laugh. “I don’t know--”

Felicity barely registered something -- a car?-- was coming towards them out of the corner of her eye. “Watch--”

A loud crash filled the air. Felicity slid across the back seat --why hadn’t she buckled her seatbelt?-- and vaguely realized that the taxi was fishtailing before it slammed against a cinder brick wall. Her body slammed against the door and she cried out as her wrist bent backwards and her head hit against the glass.

Dark spots invaded her vision, but she sat up, fighting the pull of unconsciousness, and looked at the driver. His head was tilted at an awkward angle and there was blood covering the steering wheel.

Felicity swallowed back the bile that threatened to crawl up her throat. Was he...dead?

“I think I’m going to hack.” She didn’t know who she was talking to since it seemed like yes, he was in fact, no longer alive.

She needed to get out of here.

She quickly assessed herself. Her head throbbed and she knew she probably had a concussion. Her right arm was turning a disturbing shade of purple.

 _So much for making that interview on time_ , she thought as she forced herself to stay awake.

She knew she needed to get out of the car and started to scoot across the seats to reach the door. Her movements were too sluggish though. She was never going to be able to stay conscious long enough to get out of the vehicle. Besides, what would she do? Lay on the ground and hope someone would take her to the hospital?

She tried to reach for her purse to call 911, but it had gotten flung into the front seat, just inches from the driver.

There was no way she was getting that close to a dead body.

She turned her focus back to getting out of the car, inch by inch. She cradled her broken wrist with her left hand, biting down on her lip as she tried to ignore the pain.

Suddenly, the back door swung open. “Oh thank God,” she said, turning towards whoever was kind enough to get her out of the car. “I think the driver--”

“Felicity Smoak?”

Her name coming from an unfamiliar voice was disconcerting enough, but when she was finally able to focus on the person standing outside the car and realized he was aiming an arrow at her head, she was really confused. She blinked slowly, trying to figure out what was going on. “Is there some kind of Renaissance Fair going on in town?”

Another arm reached in and snagged her out from the car. She cried out as her right wrist pressed against her body. When she was forced on her feet, she closed her eyes. The sun was too bright sunlight and she couldn’t get her bearings straight.

Fortunately, it didn’t seem like Robin Hood wanted to use her for target practice so she took a couple of seconds to collect herself before she opened her eyes. Two men stood in front of her: an Asian man wearing a suit and an annoyed look and a younger man who looked in need of a haircut. And clean clothes. What kind of heroes were these guys?

She stumbled backwards, though she didn’t hit the ground thanks to the fact that the older guy still had his hand wrapped around her arm. The dark spots were returning with a vengeance but she had to ignore them as long as she could. She was pretty sure she couldn’t trust Robin Hood or his well-dressed friend, despite the fact they had pulled her out of the car.

She squinted as she tried to focus on either of their faces. “What’s going on here? And could you get the ground to stop moving? Please?”

The man’s grip on his bow and arrow faltered slightly. “This is who Waller wanted us to get? Are you sure? She doesn’t even look old enough to vote.”

Despite the fact she was fairly certain she was about to lose consciousness in the next 30 seconds and he was still pointing an arrow at her, she jerked her head in Robin Hood’s direction. “I will have you know that I just turned 20 last month.”

The other man moved to stand in front of her. “We need to know. Are you Felicity Smoak?”

“Yes, I am.” Then, she blacked out.


End file.
